Approval by the Council of Ministers of the revision of the Public Contracts Code

The Council of Ministers has recently approved the long-awaited decree-law revising the Public Contracts Code (Código dos Contratos Públicos).

According to the communiqué issued by the Council of Ministers on 16 April 2026, the reform aims to simplify and streamline public procurement procedures without compromising the principles of transparency, competition, legality and sound administration.

The main changes introduced by this 'new' Public Contracts Code are as follows:

1. Full recognition of digital public procurement, including the use of artificial intelligence solutions, with safeguards for interoperability, transparency, and data protection.
2. Reducing administrative burdens in procurement procedures by decreasing required documentation and applying the ‘once-only principle’ in practice.
3. Increasing the thresholds for prior consultation and direct award procedures, while ensuring they remain below the thresholds set out in the relevant EU Directive.
4. A stronger emphasis on prior planning and quality in the evaluation of tenders, with greater flexibility in price weighting in multi-criteria models.
5. Acceptance of unsolicited private initiatives, the prior assessment of technological solutions and the possibility of reserving contracts for startups.
6. Reorganisation and clarification of the rules on exclusion, contract modification, design-and-build contracts, concessions, and authorisation of expenditure.
7. Stronger mechanisms to enable faster procedures in situations of emergency, disaster or recognised exceptional circumstances.
8. The establishment of a fully voluntary arbitration regime and the promotion of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

Publication of the Decree Law in the Diário da República, the official gazette, and its subsequent entry into force are now awaited.